Digital Scrapbooking – April Blog Hop

They fall. First one, then another. My husband points them out to me as we drive by. I turn my face away. I can’t look. The neighbor is pulling out his cherry orchard. 15 acres this year – maybe more next. With each fallen tree, my heart sinks lower. For years we have marveled at the beauty of a cherry orchard in full bloom. Playful chickadees have darted within the clouds of white and pink spring buds. A small semblance of heaven.

But the new laws are in place this year to protect migrant crop workers, and the economy is bad for fruit sellers. Our neighbors have hired the same family of workers for two generations. They are provided with a clean and attractive bunkhouse for their two-week stay. It has a restroom, showers, bunk beds, etc. Picnic tables outside provide a place for playing cards or reading. Last year I baked cookies for them. Sometimes they come to our church. But the new laws state that each individual family must have their own, separate housing. I don’t make a judgment call on that law – I wish everyone had the opportunity to have everything they require. In my neighbor’s case, they just don’t have the funds to build new bunkhouses for individual families. Along with that mandatory law, the market for Bing cherries has fallen considerably. The heartbreaking decision was made to pull down the trees. A little bit of my heart falls down with them. Sigh.

The Pixel Scrapper Blog Hop for April is called “Raindrops and Rainbows”, a fitting theme for this time of year in Oregon. Lots of early rainfall. I am excited to see what the other designers at PS have designed. I went with a watercolor theme and stayed away from bright, primary colors. Please visit the link to get access to all designer creations for this Blog Hop. And remember, each designer will have their own particular terms of use for their designs. My designs are free to use, as you wish. I just ask that you do a random act of kindness for someone else, in return. My official terms are at the end of this post.

Thank you for the lovely papers! I agree with Maryanne’s comments. Lawmakers don’t always look at all the issues when they make a new law – in this case, I think their change can be detrimental to the farmer, the consumer and most likely the migrant workers they are trying to protect – they may not have a job this year at all.

Thank you for your beautiful papers and elements! It’s so sad to hear about the cherry trees. It seems that many times laws that are made to protect people end up having unintended consequences and do more harm. I bet those migrant workers would rather have a job than larger living spaces!

Thank you for these lovely papers and elements. It sure is a shame about the cherry trees, and even more a shame that laws to protect people often have a downside. Often it affects those who already go out of their way to do the right thing!

Beautiful papers and elements Sunny, thank you! It’s so sad about the trees and the farming traditions. We’re seeing a lot of that in my area in Canada too. All the farmland is being bought up by developers and then crammed with thousands of houses. I buy local whenever I can.

WOW!!! This blog train gift is beautiful. Thank you ever so much. I love it. I am another who thinks it’s a shame that those cherry trees have to be cut down. Politicians! Wonder how much they got to line their greedy pockets to make this a law. Makes me sad for the families who own the trees as well as their migrant worker families who, in many cases, almost become part of the tree owners’ families and become good friends as well. I had an aunt and uncle who had a cattle ranch and had many ranch hands as well as some families that they loved and treated just like family. Wonder how many of us know of higher income families who choose to make like a vacation of going to some farm to pick fruit and get to know other families and experience a totally different aspect of life.

It is beyond sad about the Cherry trees and the family!!! On so many levels they and everyone around them lost something invaluable never to be gotten back!!! ***sigh But on to much gorgeous things…. Your amazing kit!!! The colors are stunning!!!! The butterflies are marvelous!!! The different raindrops are beautiful!!!! The corner and border are incredible!!!! The flowers are spectacular!!!! The cards and doilies are outstanding!!!! The border is extraordinary!!! The papers are gorgeous!!!! Thank you so very much for sharing!!!!

Just the thought of lovely, mature cherry trees coming down makes me sigh in sadness too. That being said, thank you so much for your (always) beautiful contributions to the blog train. This one is especially lovely with the colors and pretty papers and elements.